1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a tire building machine and, more particularly, to apparatus to cut and align material in a second stage tire building machine.
2. Description of the Background Art
Pneumatic tires of the bias type are generally built commercially in a "flat band" and subsequently expanded to the toroid shape in a curing mold. While building such tires, the strip material including the tread strips are applied directly over a laminated tire carcass while in a flat band orientation.
Conversely, pneumatic tires of the radial type are generally built commercially by the "toroid" method. This method requires a first stage tire building machine for constructing the carcass in a flat band configuration and a second stage tire building machine for constructing the breaker and tread strips and applying them to the carcass. At the second stage machine, the carcass is supported on a first drum where it is expanded into a toroid shape. The tread and breaker strips are separately built on a second drum and then transferred onto the periphery of the supported carcass to form the green tire ready for vulcanization.
Various approaches to continuous and automatic tire building machines and methods are disclosed in the literature. Note for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,859,152 to Brey and 4,105,487 to Suzuki which discloses a variable angle cutter as part of a servicer for a tire building machine. Note also U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,936 to Lebond which discloses alignment mechanisms for the fabric in a tire building machine. Although many such advances are noteworthy to one extent or another, none achieves the objective of a tire building machine which is continuous and automatic, efficient, rapid and economical in its operation.
As illustrated by the great number of prior patent as well as commercial devices, efforts are continuously being made in an attempt to improve tire building machines and methods to render them more effective, rapid and economical. None of these previous efforts, however, provides the benefits attendant with the present invention. Additionally, prior tire building machines do not suggest the present inventive combination of method steps and component elements arranged and configured as disclosed and claimed herein. The present invention achieves its intended purposes, objects and advantages over the prior art devices through a new, useful and unobvious combination of component elements, with the use of minimum number of functioning parts, at a reasonable cost to manufacture, and by employing only readily available materials.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide apparatus to cut breaker material as it is conveyed from a roll to a rotatable drum and to align the cut breaker material comprising a conveyor to move the breaker material along a path of travel from the roll to the drum with the longitudinal centerline of the material overlying the longitudinal centerline of the conveyor; cutter means located along the path of travel to sequentially cut the material fed from the roll into strips of a predetermined length with the cut being at an angle with respect to the longitudinal centerline of the material to thereby produce an acute angle at the tip of the leading edge of each strip of cut material; and edge alignment means positioned on the side of the cutter means remote from the roll to return the tip of the cut material into proper alignment position with the opposed side edges of the cut material being at a predetermined, equal distance from the longitudinal centerline of the conveyor.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to cut breaker material from a roll, precisely align the cut material with respect to a path of travel and to feed such cut and aligned material to a breaker drum.
Lastly, it is an object of the invention to build tires on a second stage tire building machine more efficiently, rapidly and economically.
The foregoing has outlined some of the more pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the summary of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.